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Protecting the Outer Banks.

A month before the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf, the Obama Administration had opened the door to oil and gas drilling off North Carolina’s coast, and oil and gas interests had their sights set on waters just off the Outer Banks. Together with our allies in the Environment America federation, we generated more than 20,000 public comments urging the President to drop his plans for drilling in the Atlantic. We garnered support for this position from dozens of state legislators and coastal businesses. We raised awareness about the threat to the Outer Banks in the news media and through our email activist list. Finally, in November 2011, Obama confirmed that there would be no drilling off our coast until at least 2017. But with a new Secretary of Interior with a history in the oil and gas industry, we’ll need to work especially hard to ensure our coasts remain rig-free.